Last updated 6 months ago
Ethiopia’s criminal record system is paper-based, fragmented and vulnerable to tampering, falsification, and data loss. This undermines justice, transparency and employment opportunities for citizens.
A Cardano-based dApp for secure, immutable criminal records with tamper-proof anchoring, controlled access for institutions, and citizen-friendly verification tools.
This is the total amount allocated to Justice Ledger: Blockchain Criminal Records Ethiopia.
Please provide your proposal title
Justice Ledger: Blockchain Criminal Records Ethiopia
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
98000
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
12
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated
No
Original Language
en
What is the problem you want to solve?
Ethiopia’s criminal record system is paper-based, fragmented and vulnerable to tampering, falsification, and data loss. This undermines justice, transparency and employment opportunities for citizens.
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
Yes
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
Partnerships with justice institutions and law enforcement for pilot data entry and adoption
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
Yes
License and Additional Information
We will use the MIT License, a widely adopted and permissive open-source license that allows anyone to freely use, modify, and distribute the code, including for commercial and governmental applications, as long as attribution is maintained.
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal.
Governance
Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).
Our project will be developed in close collaboration with local justice sector stakeholders in Ethiopia, including representatives from regional courts, legal advisors, and IT specialists connected to law enforcement institutions. looking at paper-based record loss, lack of standardized background checks, and data tampering risks utilizing blockchain would be usefull.
Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.
We have no external funding commitments yet; Catalyst will provide the essential seed funding to design, pilot, and release the Justice Ledger platform. However, we are in discussions with local justice institutions and NGOs for co-support in training, infrastructure, and adoption. These partnerships will help sustain the project beyond Catalyst funding and enable scaling across Ethiopia.
Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.
Success will be measured by
Number of justice institutions onboarded
Criminal records securely anchored on Cardano (target: 500)
Open-source release of smart contracts and APIs
Stakeholder adoption feedback and satisfaction surveys
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
Ethiopia’s criminal record system remains paper-based, siloed, and vulnerable to manipulation. Missing files, unauthorized alterations, and lack of standardized verification undermine trust in justice institutions. This creates challenges in fair employment background checks, court proceedings, and reintegration opportunities for ex-offenders.
Our solution is to build Justice Ledger, a Cardano-powered decentralized criminal record registry. The system will allow authorized justice institutions to securely register, update, and verify criminal records in a tamper-proof manner. Using smart contracts and decentralized identity (DID) principles, the system ensures transparency for institutions, privacy for individuals, and integrity for the justice process.
Key Features:
Immutable Anchoring: Records are hashed and anchored on Cardano to prevent alteration or deletion.
Permissioned Access: Only authorized agencies (courts, police) can write records, while read access is managed via access control.
Citizen-Friendly Proofs: Individuals can prove “no record found” status without exposing sensitive personal details.
Open Source Platform: Smart contracts, APIs, and deployment guides will be released publicly for adoption across regions.
Pilot-First Approach: Start with a limited dataset in partnership with selected institutions before scaling nationally.
By combining blockchain integrity with privacy-by-design, Justice Ledger offers a reliable, replicable, and affordable justice infrastructure model for Ethiopia and beyond.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
The success of this project directly strengthens justice transparency, human rights, and social equity. Tamper-proof records will reduce corruption, prevent wrongful alterations, and restore trust in justice institutions.
Anticipated Impacts:
Justice Integrity: Courts and law enforcement can rely on records that cannot be falsified or erased.
Employment Fairness: Employers gain access to reliable background checks, while citizens can prove rehabilitation or clean records quickly.
Human Rights Protection: Eliminates risks of selective record deletion that favor elites or disadvantage vulnerable groups.
Digital Transformation: Aligns with Ethiopia’s national push toward digital identity and e-government services.
Scalable Model: A successful pilot can inspire adoption in other African nations where paper-based justice systems face similar challenges.
Cardano Visibility: Positions Cardano as a platform for social good, showing real-world applications beyond finance.
The project also builds local capacity by training developers and justice staff in blockchain-powered systems, creating long-term sustainability.
What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?
Team Capabilities:
Firaol Gezahegn (Coordinator): Experienced in blockchain education and ecosystem building in Ethiopia, responsible for project management and stakeholder engagement.
Nataniem Seyoum (Product Owner): Leads product development, user experience design, and institutional relations.
Blockchain Engineer (Plutus/Smart Contracts): Builds immutable record anchoring, identity logic, and verification modules.
Backend/API Engineer: Develops secure access controls, DID integration, and institutional portals.
Legal Advisor: Ensures compliance with Ethiopian justice laws and data privacy frameworks.
Justice Institution Partners: Provide test data, real-world feedback, and pilot adoption.
Feasibility Approach:
Phase 1 – Design & Legal Framework (Months 1–2): Consult justice partners and finalize architecture.
Phase 2 – Core Development (Months 3–5): Build and test smart contracts, APIs, and dashboard.
Phase 3 – Pilot Deployment (Months 7–10): Onboard 1–2 institutions, digitize test records, and conduct training.
Phase 4 – Verification & Open Source (Months 11–12): Launch citizen verification service, release code publicly, and document results.
Risk Mitigation:
Legal Risk: Mitigated via advisor input and early agency engagement.
Adoption Risk: Mitigated through phased pilot and training workshops.
Technical Risk: Smart contract audit and contingency budget for security.
Why Feasible?
The scope is realistic: start small, test with limited data, and iterate. Our mix of technical, legal, and institutional expertise ensures delivery. By open-sourcing outputs, we also enable others to replicate and improve the system beyond our pilot.
Milestone Title
Stakeholder consultations & compliance research
Milestone Outputs
The first milestone delivers the foundational legal and technical framework for Justice Ledger. This includes stakeholder consultations with courts, law enforcement IT teams, and policy advisors to ensure compliance with Ethiopian justice procedures. The output will be a documented system architecture, data protection framework, and defined user roles (institutions, citizens, admin). Early mockups of the dashboard and smart contract design are included, ensuring a shared understanding before coding begins.
Acceptance Criteria
Success will be measured by delivery of a signed design report, validated by at least two institutional partners. The report must clearly define: (1) user workflows for courts and law enforcement, (2) privacy and identity protection measures, (3) data anchoring mechanism on Cardano, and (4) initial smart contract structure. Stakeholders must confirm that the framework aligns with Ethiopian legal requirements.
Evidence of Completion
Completion will be evidenced by a published design framework document (PDF) shared with Catalyst, minutes from stakeholder consultation workshops, and mockups of the proposed system uploaded to GitHub. Sign-off letters or emails from at least two justice institutions will be attached.
Delivery Month
2
Cost
9800
Progress
10 %
Milestone Title
Core Blockchain Development
Milestone Outputs
This milestone delivers the core blockchain logic for record anchoring. Plutus smart contracts will be developed to hash and store references to criminal records on Cardano. A backend API will be built to manage institutional write permissions and enforce access control. The outputs include working smart contracts deployed on Cardano testnet, API documentation, and a sandbox environment for developers.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance requires (1) smart contracts deployed successfully to Cardano testnet, (2) at least 20 test transactions simulating record anchoring, (3) API endpoints for record input/output with permission logic, and (4) preliminary audit confirming contract security and functionality.
Evidence of Completion
GitHub repository containing source code, smart contract test results, and API documentation. Catalyst reporting video demonstrating testnet deployment and transaction logs will also be submitted
Delivery Month
2
Cost
19600
Progress
20 %
Milestone Title
Admin Dashboard & Training
Milestone Outputs
A fully functional web-based admin dashboard is built, enabling authorized justice institutions to input, search, and view records. The dashboard will have login access, record input forms, and a verification view. Training workshops will be conducted with partner institutions to ensure usability and collect feedback.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance is achieved when at least two institutional partners successfully log in, input test records, and retrieve verifications through the dashboard. Training sessions must demonstrate institutional staff can operate the system independently.
Evidence of Completion
Screenshots and a recorded demo of the dashboard in action, plus workshop training reports, attendance sheets, and feedback surveys. Signed confirmation letters from partner institutions acknowledging participation in training and successful use of the dashboard will be provided.
Delivery Month
2
Cost
29400
Progress
30 %
Milestone Title
Pilot Deployment
Milestone Outputs
Live pilot of Justice Ledger with real but limited datasets from 1–2 justice institutions. The system will securely anchor 500+ criminal records on Cardano, with full data input, verification, and retrieval cycles. Privacy protection features will be stress-tested.
Acceptance Criteria
Pilot will be accepted once (1) 500+ records are hashed and anchored on-chain, (2) participating institutions confirm operational functionality, and (3) initial verification reports show no data tampering or access failures.
Evidence of Completion
On-chain transaction logs, pilot reports from institutions, and a Catalyst progress video showing records being verified live. Partner institutions will co-sign the pilot evaluation report.
Delivery Month
3
Cost
19600
Progress
20 %
Milestone Title
Citizen Verification & Open Source Release
Milestone Outputs
aunch of the citizen verification module allowing individuals to generate proofs of “no record found” or valid verification without exposing personal data. Final outputs also include full open-source release of smart contracts, APIs, and documentation.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance requires (1) at least 200 citizens successfully using the verification service during pilot, (2) all code repositories publicly released on GitHub under open-source license, and (3) final project documentation and implementation guide published.
Evidence of Completion
Acceptance requires (1) at least 200 citizens successfully using the verification service during pilot, (2) all code repositories publicly released on GitHub under open-source license, and (3) final project documentation and implementation guide published.
Delivery Month
3
Cost
19600
Progress
30 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
The Justice Ledger project requests 98,000 ADA over 12 months. The budget is distributed across development, legal compliance, institutional engagement, training, outreach, and auditing. Each allocation is designed to maximize transparency and deliver open-source outputs that can be reused globally.
Smart Contract & Backend Development – 28,570 ADA
This covers development of Plutus smart contracts for record anchoring, backend APIs for institutional access control, and deployment on Cardano testnet and mainnet. Resources include developer time, secure test environments, and tooling.
Frontend & Dashboard Development – 12,860 ADA
A secure web dashboard for courts and law enforcement, along with a citizen verification module, will be built. This includes frontend development, UX/UI testing, and hosting services to ensure accessibility for institutional users and citizens.
Legal & Policy Consulting – 8,570 ADA
Expert legal consultation ensures alignment with Ethiopian justice law and data protection frameworks. This includes policy workshops, review of compliance documentation, and engagement with justice officials.
Pilot Infrastructure – 11,430 ADA
Hosting servers, storage, monitoring tools, and security infrastructure will support the live pilot with real but limited datasets. This ensures resilience, uptime, and data privacy protections.
Team Compensation – 17,150 ADA
Covers compensation for project coordination, product ownership, reporting to Catalyst, and administration. This ensures accountability and smooth execution of the project.
Training & Workshops – 7,145 ADA
Hands-on training for justice staff, including three workshops, user guides, and training videos. Feedback sessions will refine the platform to meet real institutional needs.
Outreach & Reporting – 5,715 ADA
Covers Catalyst progress updates, demo day organization, GitHub open-source publishing, and final reporting. Ensures transparency and global visibility of the project.
Contingency & Security Audit – 6,560 ADA
Funds an independent audit of smart contracts, penetration testing of APIs and dashboards, and a contingency reserve for unforeseen technical or legal adjustments.
Total: 98,000 ADA
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
The 98,000 ADA requested funds a working blockchain justice system, pilot-tested with real institutions, and released as open source under the MIT License. Allocation ensures a balance between technical development (50%), institutional adoption (30%), and training plus outreach (20%).
Justice Ledger will leave behind not only a functioning pilot in Ethiopia but also an open-source model for tamper-proof criminal record systems that can be replicated globally.
Terms and Conditions:
Yes
Firaol Gezahegn – Project Coordinator
Leads overall project execution, manages timeline, and ensures alignment between technical development and institutional needs. Coordinates reporting to Catalyst and maintains partnerships.
Nataniem Seyoum – Product Owner
Oversees system design, user experience, and functionality. Manages communication with justice institutions, ensuring the platform meets real-world workflows.
Blockchain Engineer (Plutus/Smart Contracts)
Develops smart contracts for record anchoring, identity logic, and verification modules. Ensures security, scalability, and auditability of on-chain components.
Backend/API Engineer
Builds secure APIs, permissioned access systems, and integrates decentralized identity (DID) standards. Ensures institutional portals and citizen verification tools function reliably.
Frontend Developer/UI Designer
Designs and develops the admin dashboard and citizen verification interface, making the system accessible and easy to use for non-technical stakeholders.
Legal & Policy Advisor
Provides expertise on Ethiopian justice law and data protection requirements. Ensures system complies with national regulations and protects citizen rights.
Justice Institution Partners
Courts, law enforcement IT officers, and administrative staff who participate in pilot testing, record input, and feedback to validate usability and compliance.